2016 Natsu Matsuri and Food Festival 2016 Beaverton, OregonNEW

A full day of fun and great foods from Japan. Everyone is a volunteer and hopes to raise funding for their non profit efforts.

The festival is getting near. There are some booth space available, a few if you hurry. Join TV Japan, Yamato Transport, and others. We expect 12-15000 in the three days. Our main festival is Saturday, July 30, 2016. Plus the Northwest Koi and Goldfish Show.

FRIENDS OF JAPAN IN OREGON
A non profit organization; 100% volunteer powered, PO Box 25336, Portland, Oregon 97225
Contact: Jim Hill or Keiko Honda 503-297-9268

July 30,2016, 11 AM to 6 PM, Saturday at Uwajimaya Plaza, 10500 SW Beaverton-Hillsdale Hwy.,� Beaverton, Oregon 97005

Sponsored by Yoshida Foods, Office of the Consul General of Japan, Portland Bentham Lions Club, Friends of Japan in Oregon

Ref: Community Festival will serve up great food, live entertainment, and an all non-profit effort to assist tsunami orphans from Japan for 8-day home-stays here in Oregon and to assist the rebuilding efforts of the Earthquake stricken Kumamoto Earthquake

Food festival, kids games, watermelon eating contest, kimono photo booth, free hearing tests, sight testing, B/P and diabetes testing.

Natsu Matsuri, the Annual Japanese Community Summer Festival, is bigger than ever.

Beaverton, Oregon
����������� This year's exciting Natsu Matsuri 2016 (Summer Festival 2016) will take place at Uwajimaya Beaverton Plaza on July 30, 2016.� This year is particularly special as we are hosting the Northwest Koi and Goldfish Club annual show and auction. This traditional Japanese summer festival is centered on Japanese culture and raising money for the many non profit organizations hosting and running programs to better their communities both here in Oregon and also in Japan.

����������� The festival includes traditional Japanese games, foods, music, and dance � just like the countless neighborhood and community festivals held throughout Japan each summer. The festival will be hosted by a staff of volunteers, with the additional help of over 15 non profit organizations from the Japanese community here in Oregon.

����������� This year, in the same way as five years ago, groups and organizations will be working to raise funds for the Japan Tsunami and Earthquake Disaster Relief and those who are still affected and need our assistance. The new Goodwill Homestays will be aiming to raise funds. Also, many non profits and associations will be serving up food, cultural games, and summer treats with the goal of making a difference for their NPO's.

����������� What sets this festival apart is that it is organized by nine local community organizations and non-profits, and there will also be a limited amount of commercial vendors. At this family-friendly event, the focus will be on Japanese food, music, dance, and FUN, featuring live Japanese music and odori dancing, traditional children's games, shaved ice, Japanese and Asian festival foods, a watermelon easting contest, and much, much more.�� �

����������� en Taiko, Portland's upcoming and hardest working taiko group, will be performing exciting taiko that demonstrates the Japanese drumming tradition that is an authentic part of the Japanese culture and spirit.� Along with other talents like Solo Flamenco Arts Academy, Hombu Dojo, and Kyokushin Ito Dojo, the event will surely be fun to watch on stage. You won't want to miss the Sheridan Taiko and Tomodachi-Kai Choris groups perform for the first time this year!

����������� Games will include traditional favorites like the yo-yo tsuri (yo-yo fishing game), shageki (rubber band shooting game), Kingyo Sukui (gold fish game), and Super ball sukui (bouncing rubber ball game) games.� There will also be katanuki, a very old and rare game that uses small slabs of sugar candy with simple shapes cut into them.� Use a pushpin and your skill to separate the shape without breaking it and win a prize - and if you do not win, you still get to eat your game piece!

����������� Natsu Matsuri t-shirts will be on sale during the festival.� All proceeds will go to local and Japan- based non-profit organizations to assist in community services, Goodwill Homestays, the relief efforts for those affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami and the lastest Kumamoto Earthquake. Numerous organizations, including the Japanese Cultural Society of Salem, The Japanese International Baptist Church, Team Hope Japan of Tigard, Sakura Kai, the Nichiren Buddhist Temple, Portland Kimono Club, Friends of Japan in Oregon, and others, will be serving delicious Japanese foods including grilled squid, Japanese shaved ice (Kakigori), takoyaki and other traditional Japanese festival foods.

����������� The Portland Kimono Club will host a Kimono Photo booth where visitors to the festival will get a chance to try on a Japanese wedding kimono or yukata and have their picture taken in it.� Small donations are asked and we hope all will have a good time and support this wonderful organization.

����������� Team Hope is a Japanese International Baptist Church group that has traveled to Japan many times with shipments of relief supplies and has worked with Billy Graham's Samaritan's Purse disaster relief effort. The group has helped distribute 94 tons of relief supplies and has assisted other organizations helping the earthquake and tsunami victims there. Furthermore, Team Hope traveled to the Philippines and Nepal for Emergency Rescue and Relief numerous times, and will again be serving up Takoyaki (Octopus Balls) and Yakiniku (tender chicken on a stick). Takoyaki is a traditional food during festivals in Japan, and it is a very popular one as well. Hope Japan is lead by Pastor Kenji Yokoy who will be helping with Emceeing.

����������� The Nichiren Buddhist Temple will be serving up their renowned Yakisoba. Expertly prepared and served hot and in plentiful amounts, it is a favorite at all the festivals, and Nichiren Temple's Yakisoba is not to be beat.

����������� The festival will be held in the Uwajimaya Plaza parking lot (10500 SW Beaverton-Hillsdale Hwy, Beaverton) from 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.� Admission is free and there is plenty of free parking, so gather up family and friends for a day of exciting entertainment and delicious Kakigori or Japanese shaved ice, grilled squid, yakisoba, and lots of other delicious festival foods, fun activities, and great entertainment at Oregon's very own traditional Japanese Summer Festival.

����������� Natsu Matsuri 2018 is sponsored by Yoshida Foods International, Creative Woodworking NW, Inspec Group, and Uwajimaya, Inc., and supported by Japanese International Baptist Church of Tigard, Salem's Japanese Cultural Society, Sakura Kai, Japanese Student Society of Oregon (JSSO), Friends of Japan in Oregon, The Yuuyake Shimbun (Sunset Newspaper) and many other non profits that make this festival special.

����������� The Portland Bentham Lions Club will again be present this year with their mobile screening Unit. The club will have FREE Blood Pressure checks, eye exams, glaucoma and diabetes checks. The Portland Bentham Lions Club was founded over 50 years ago by Sam Naito of Made in Oregon. This club has always been a part of the festival have become a part of the family. This year, the Lions will be out in full force to perform as many exams as possible. Come early to sign up and guarantee your screening. Signing up is for free.

����������� Uwajimaya Plaza in Beaverton and Uwajimaya, Inc. are once again at the forefront of supporting the communities served by their stores.� Uwajimaya is an 85 year old, family-owned business, with Asian Food and Gift Markets in Seattle, Bellevue, Renton, Washington, and Beaverton, Oregon, and Uwajimaya has a long history of community involvement and giving back to the community.� Uwajimaya Plaza in Beaverton has become a true community and cultural hub for the Portland Metropolitan area and is an active partner in efforts to improve the community.

����������� The festival would not be possible without the generous support of Junki Yoshida of Yoshida Foods and the Moriguchi Family, owners of the Uwajimaya Store here in Beaverton. For 6 years, the festival has been a huge success because of their support and trust, helping to strengthen this special community and provide opportunities. The event has raised funds for over 25 different non profits to continue their missions, advertise their organizations, and give the people of Beaverton and Portland an opportunity to experience Japanese culture, dance, taiko, and food at it's finest. Jack Ayers, the store manager, came up with the idea to offer community groups a chance to get their organizations noticed, and an opportunity to fundraise. Six years later, the festival is as strong as ever and extremely well attended.

����������� For more information concerning Natsu Matsuri 2016, please contact Keiko Honda at� 503-297-9268.� For information about Uwajimaya, please contact Jack Ayers at 503-643-4512, or visit www.uwajimaya.com

The Natsu Matsuri 2016 is presented (Title Sponsor) by Junki Yoshida and Yoshida Foods. Mr. Yoshida is a very successful Oregon businessman. Known as America's Sauce King, Mr. Yoshida arrived in Seattle, WA from Japan at a young age with only $500 in his pocket. He began teaching karate, studying at community college while often living in his car. As the holidays approached, he had no money to buy gifts for his students and friends. What he did have was his family's age-old secret recipe for a gourmet cooking sauce. Later years, he and his family worked hard for many years and gave bottles of his sauce as Christmas gifts. To his surprise and delight, students began requesting refills. As word-of-mouth spread and demand grew, the Yoshida's decided to market their unique product and sell it in local grocery stores. Today this line of delicious sauces sells in stores throughout the United States, offering unique flavors, versatility and fun for everyday meals.

For the Japanese community and Oregonians who love Japan, he is big hearted, kind and a generous man. He believes in giving back and both he and his wife, Linda, have made enormous contributions to children's hospitals, cancer centers and support the many efforts of Japanese language and culture education, martial arts, Japan Rescue efforts and many more with his involvement in Natsu Matsuri of the last 5 years. Mr. Yoshida is a community and business leader both for Oregon and the Japanese community.